His Excellency,
The Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D., S.T.D.
Diocese of Belleville
December 10, 2023, Second Sunday of Advent
11:00 AM, St. Theresa Church
“My Soul Magnifies the Lord”
(This is the text as originally written. During the actual delivery, some passages were omitted and other comments were added spontaneously. Nota bene: This text has not been thoroughly proofread. Therefore, there may be errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation.)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
Myriam of Nazareth. That is the actual Hebrew name of the woman whose prayer of praise, “My Soul Magnifies The Lord,” just prayed as our response to the reading from Isaiah. No one ever called the Mother of Jesus by the English name Mary, in her lifetime. Indeed, if we had only the gospel of John, we would not know her name was Mary, since John refers only to “the mother of Jesus.” There is much more to this remarkable woman than a statue on a church pedestal, or a rosy-cheeked maiden in a Christmas nativity scene.
While some scholars question the possibility that an uneducated teenager composed it, Luke places the words of this great Prayer of praise on Mary’s lips, “Magnificat anima mea.” “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” Many Christians listen to this prayer set to Gloria music by composers such as Bach and ignore it’s bold, challenging message. Mary prays this prayer while visiting her kinswoman, Elizabeth after learning, unexpectedly, that she is going to have a son. Elizabeth, too, is expecting a son, John, whose ministry as the forerunner of Jesus was just proclaimed by the Deacon.
Recall Mary’s words from Luke 1, 46-55. “The Lord has scattered the proud in the conceit of their hearts. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good food, and the rich he has sent away with nothing.”
Some commentators say Mary’s Prayer is a revolutionary song of salvation whose political, economic, and social dimensions should not be overlooked. People in need hear a plea for them in Mary’s Prayer. The battered woman, the single mother without resources, those without food on the table, the homeless family, all are encompassed in the hope of Mary’s proclamation. Mary’s Prayer is so challenging that it was banned from being prayed in India under the British Empire. In the 1980’s, the Magnificat was banned in strife torn Guatemala. In Argentina, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo—whose children were murdered during the Dirty War (1976-1983)—placed the words of the Magnificat on posters throughout the country. As a result, the military junta of Argentina outlawed any public display of Mary’s Prayer. You can see why certain governments might find Mary’s words a challenge to their power.
Mary prays, “From this day forward all generations will call me blessed.” In American culture, some people speak of being “blessed” when they really mean they feel fortunate because things are going well in their comfortable lifes (a good job, a nice home and money in the bank). They share pictures of themselves on vacation in a tropical paradise and say “I feel so blessed!” But what they are really saying is they are enjoying the comforts of life.
The blessedness that Mary celebrates stands in stark contrast to our culture’s attitude. By our standards, Mary does not look at all blessed. It is true that God has chosen her to be the Mother of the Messiah, but in practical terms what does this mean for Mary? She is not from a family that can plan a dream vacation. Mary is quite insignificant in her culture, an unmarried peasant girl from a small village, expecting a child.
Her friends and neighbors may well see her as a disgrace because she is on the way to becoming an “unwed mother.” Even Joseph, initially disturbed by Mary’s condition, considers “putting her away quietly.” And, as Simeon later tells Mary in the temple, because she is the mother of Jesus, her heart will be pierced with sorrow. She will endure the unspeakable grief of watching as her son is rejected, shamed, tortured, and crucified. Nevertheless, Mary insists that she is “blessed.” I doubt most Americans would consider such a life a blessing. But Mary’s kinswoman, Elizabeth, whose infant, John the Baptist, leapt for joy in her womb when Mary arrived at her home declares, “Blessed are you among women!”
It is Mary’s graced state, which we celebrated a week ago Friday, the Immaculate Conception, that makes her “blessed,” not any personal good fortune. The favor she has with God, as the mother of Jesus, is the reason why we honor her as the Blessed Virgin Mary, a title not found in the gospels, Mary was the first and best disciple of Christ. This is why Mary is our excellent companion during these final days before Christmas and throughout the Christmas season.
It should not be surprising to you that the Church gives us Mary’s Magnificat Prayer, found only in Luke, just days before Christmas. Mary’s words about the proud being pulled down from their thrones, the lowly being raised up, and rich being sent away with nothing, are the perfect reminder of the spiritual attitude we should bring to Christmas. Remember, Luke has NO exotic Magi from the east at the manger scene. (They are only in Matthew.) Luke has only dirty, homeless shepherds, considered social outcasts, who are told by the divine messengers that they will find the Savior of the world lying in a manger (an animal feed box, prefiguring Christ as our food in the Eucharist, and wrapped in swaddling clothes, prefiguring the shroud that will cover the body of the crucified Jesus).
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
Throughout Advent, the scriptures have been telling us: Keep watch! Stay awake! Pay attention the Lord is near! If we have not been listening, there is still time during this last week to make Mary’s Prayer our own.
Today’s gospel announces there was a man, one sent from God, whose name was John. He came to testify to the Light. He was not himself the Light. He came to testify to the Light. The most important thing you and I can do at Christmastide is to be a person, one sent from God, testifying to the Light by everything we do and say on Christmas Day and throughout the New Year. And that most radiant light to which we testify is Jesus Christ.
Before then we can proclaim with Mary on Christmas Day and every day, “Magnificat anima mea. My soul magnifies the Lord! And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!” If each one of us lives Mary’s Prayer day by day, it truly will be Christmas, Christmas that last forever!
Praised be Jesus Christ.
Both Now and forever. AMEN.